GOOD NEWS: 2022 first-round pick returns to Hawks after eight-game absence

After being inactive for the past eight games due to personal reasons, second-year wing AJ Griffin is back with the Hawks and spoke to the media on Thursday, tweets Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Yeah, I would say I’m glad to be back,” he said. “The team has been great to be able to support me through that time stepping away for a little, just for personal reasons. I definitely want to keep it brief and not put it all out there.”

Griffin added (link via Brad Rowland) that being back on the court and around the team was “kind of like opening a present for Christmas day. That joy. Coming back and doing what you love and knowing that people just love being around you.”

The 16th overall pick of the 2022 draft, Griffin had a solid rookie campaign in 2022-23, averaging 8.9 PPG and 2.1 RPG on .465/.390/.894 shooting in 72 games, including 12 starts (19.5 MPG). However, he hasn’t played much so far in his second season, averaging just 9.2 MPG in 12 appearances.

Here’s more from the Southeast:

• Jalen Johnson‘s return to the Hawks will provide a needed boost to a team that went just 4-10 without him in the lineup, according to Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link). Johnson, who missed a month with a distal radius fracture in his left wrist, recorded 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal in 29 minutes during Tuesday’s loss to Chicago, his first game back from the injury. The former first-round pick will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
• Second-year center Mark Williams has missed the past eight games for the Hornets with a lower back contusion and is officially doubtful for Thursday’s contest against the Lakers, per the latest injury report. “He did more (Tuesday at morning shootaround) than he’s done for a while,” Clifford said of Williams, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “But I don’t think we have a definitive timetable.” The Hornets are 0-9 without Williams in the lineup this season.
• The Wizards currently have the worst defense in the NBA and the team looked particularly listless on that end during Wednesday’s blowout loss to Toronto, writes Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. The Raptors had gone just 3-10 over their past 13 games leading into the contest, but scored 132 points while shooting 57.1% from the field last night. Rebounding continues to plague the 5-25 Wizards, Wallace notes, with Toronto winning the battle of the boards 53-34.